This invention relates generally to a cake support, and more particularly to an incrementally-adjustable and reusable cake support for multi-layer cakes. It is an all-purpose device used to support layers, tiers, or objects on top of a cake layer.
Professional pastry chefs use cake supports for many purposes when building multi-layer cakes. The cake supports are used to compensate for thickness variations of a given cake layer and to insure that the layers are level. The cake supports also prevent heavy upper layers from deforming the lower layers. Cake top decorations, such as a bride and groom sculpture, can be placed atop cake supports to professionally finish the cake. Several types of cake supports are commonly used today to achieve the various effects, including the wood dowel and plastic Roman pillar. These cake supports may be used separately or in combination to build various cake structures.
For a stacked cake, wood dowels are first sawed into pieces as long as the layer is tall and are then inserted directly into the cake layer. A cardboard shelf or other support plate is then placed on top of the cake layer to support the next cake layer. This cardboard shelf is thus supported by at least four dowels in the cake. To build a stack, the next layer of cake placed directly on the cardboard shelf covering the lower layer. The dowels and cardboard structure is repeated for each additional layer.
For a tiered cake, the wood dowels are again cut and then inserted into the cake. A plastic plate or other support plate is placed on top of the layer, followed by plastic pillars to separate the layers and form a tier. The support plate may balance on the pillars, or the pillars may be fitted into integral cups molded into the plastic plate. The dowels, plate, and pillar structure is repeated for each additional layer.
Cutting the dowels to the correct length is dirty process, and the sawdust is difficult to contain and clean up. The dowels are also relatively difficult to cut to the proper length and at a proper 90 degrees to the lengthwise axis. The biggest drawback, however, it that wood dowels cannot be reused because wood is difficult to sanitize and because the dowels are "custom" lengths.
Several cake supports have been devised to overcome these problems. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,069,772 and 4,101,232 Haapala describes a pallet and leg assembly for providing level tiers. The pallet has holes to receive the legs. The legs are composed of a shank having cruciform fins, a head with lugs, and a collar between the head and the shank. To assemble the cake support, the head of the leg is fitted into the pallet hole and rotated, thereby clamping the pallet between the collar and the lugs. The legs are of various lengths to accommodate different cake heights. This device does not provide adjustable-length legs, however, making leveling cake layers quite difficult. Furthermore, the head of the leg extends beyond the pallet so that it is visible between the layers or above the cake. A stacked cake effect cannot be achieved because the heads cause a relatively large space between each layer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,637 Polley describes an infinitely adjustable cake jack consisting of a threaded shaft that fits in a mated cylindrical sleeve. The shaft is finely threaded. Unfortunately, while the device does allow minute adjustments to be made, the shaft must be rotated repeatedly to advance the shaft in the sleeve any significant distance. A large quick adjustment cannot be made. In addition to being finely threaded, the sleeve does not have a through bore, instead having one closed end. The threads and closed end make the Polley device extremely difficult to thoroughly clean and therefore impractical for reuse. Furthermore, the closed-end bore limits the amount of extension available, because it requires a shorter shaft for a given sleeve length. These devices have not achieved widespread commercial use because of these disadvantages.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a cake support that is quickly adjustable and can be easily cleaned. It is a further object of this invention to provide a cake support that is sanitary and reusable. Another object is to provide a cake support that provides good stability for added cake layers. A further object is to provide an all-purpose cake support that can be used in place of the variety of known support structures to create multi-layer cakes. Another object of this invention is to provide an easily manufactured cake support. Finally, it is an object of this invention to combine the advantages of reuse and easy manufacture to create an inexpensive cake support.